Witch Hunt
by Tanooki Roxx
Summary: Mario and the gang decide to spend their Halloween night in the Forest of Illusion. The forest is believed to be haunted by an evil witch. For fun, The gang tries to look for evidence to prove the witch is real. It's all fun until weird and disturbing things begin to happen. It's like someone or something is hunting them down, one by one. But, its only a legend or is it?
1. A Camping We Will Go

**A/N: Took me longer than expected to upload this fic. This one is based off of The Blair Witch Project. Hope you all enjoy! :)**

Characters: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Wario, Waluigi, DK, Diddy, Dixie, Yoshi, Birdo, Toad, Toadette, Bowser, and Bowser Jr.

A male koopa news reporter stands in front of the Forrest of Illusion. The outside of the forest is blocked off with yellow caution tape. The area is surrounded with policeman and police dogs. Some of the police are inspecting an abandoned white minivan.

"Police are still baffled by the mysterious disappearance of 15 people that camped out in the Forest of Illusion, two weeks ago. The group included: the Mushroom Kingdom heroes, Mario Mario and Luigi Mario, Princess Peach Toadstool, Princess Daisy Sarasa of Sarasaland, Wario Wario, Waluigi Wario, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Dixie Kong, Yoshi Pucha, Birdo Bowe, Toad Toad, Toadette Toad, the infamous King Bowser Koopa and Bowser Koopa Junior. Family and friends reported that the group had planned to spend their Halloween night in search of the legendary forest witch, Toadelly KedShrooms. The group's disappearance mirrors the one that occurred in this very forest just 13 years ago. Police and Crime Scene Investigators have spent the past week combing the forest for any clues. So far, nothing has been found. All that remains is this white minivan, which is reported to have belonged to Mario. We will have more on this story at 5 pm," said the koopa news reporter.

…...

**2 Weeks Earlier…**

"Luigi, have you finally finished packing?" Mario asked as he looked at his watch impatiently.

"Almost," Luigi answered as he zipped up his duffel bag slowly.

"C'mon Weegie! We need to hurry if we plan on beating Trick-or-Treating traffic! Besides, we are already gonna be 20 minutes late picking everyone up," Mario said as he helped Luigi load his bag into the van.

"Hey Mario, would you be mad if I um…bail out of the camping trip and just stay home?" Luigi meekly asked.

"Why?" Mario asked in shock.

"Well, I'm just not much of a camper, that's all," Luigi answered looking down at his feet.

"Aww bro, we'll only be out for one night," Mario laughed.

"I…just don't feel good. I think I might be coming down with something," Luigi lied.

"I know you are lying. So you may as well just come clean with it."

"I'm scared, alright!? I don't like the idea of spending the night in a haunted forest looking for a creepy witch!" Luigi blurted out.

"Bro, there is nothing to worry about! All of our friends will be there," Mario said as he hopped into the driver's seat.

"Please, don't make me go! I'm already scared of the dark," Luigi begged.

"Luigi, we have been in that forest before and nothing bad ever happened. Besides, Waluigi will never let you live this down."

"I don't know," Luigi said with uncertainty.

"Daisy will be very disappointed," Mario tempted.

"Well…I guess I'll go *gulp* for Daisy," Luigi said as he climbed into the passenger seat.

"That's the spirit! Now letsa go!" Mario cheered as he cranked up the van and drove off.

…

Peach, Daisy, Wario, Waluigi, Yoshi, Birdo, Toad, Toadette, DK, Diddy, and Dixie were all waiting outside of Peach's castle. Everyone stood around chatting amicably.

"I'm so excited! This was such a cool idea!" Dixie cheered.

"I know! This is gonna be way more fun than some lame costume party," Diddy said.

"You say that now, just wait until the infamous Forest of Illusion witch appears," DK teased.

"That would be so awesome! I brought my camera, just in case we get some ghost footage," Yoshi said.

"There is no such thing as a Forest of Illusion witch. It's just some urban legend invented to create tourism," Birdo said rolling her eyes.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. About 13 years ago, these 3 documentary students went into that forest and were never seen or heard from again," Daisy said creepily.

"They say once you go in that forest *gulp* that you don't ever come out," Toadette said nervously.

"I heard that at night you can even hear the cries of the tortured victims," Wario joined in.

"Don't listen to him. Mario and Luigi went through that forest to save Peach once and they survived. So, it can't be that bad," Toad reasoned.

"We'll see how brave you losers are at nightfall, especially that dweeb, Luigi" Waluigi snickered.

"As if Waluigi! Luigi defeated a whole mansion full of ghosts all by himself. So, a night in the Forest of Illusion is practically a cakewalk for him," Daisy said.

Waluigi was about to make a sarcastic response until the sound of a car horn interrupted him.

Everyone looked over to see Mario pulling into the castle driveway. As soon as the van was parked, Mario and Luigi got out to help load everyone's luggage.

"Hey guys! Hope there's room for two more in that van. I kinda told Diddy about the witch hunt and he insisted that he and his girl, Dixie, come along too," DK said as he handed Mario his bag.

"Sure! The more the merrier," Mario replied happily.

"Your late," Wario snorted as he handed Luigi his bag.

Toadsworth walked out the castle to help Mario and Luigi with the luggage.

"I just don't know about this whole witch hunt thing, especially on Halloween night of all nights," Toadsworth frowned.

"Toadsworth, it will be fine! We are just gonna spend the night in the forest. We'll leave first thing in the morning," Peach said as she handed him her pink backpack.

"Princess, I highly suggest you reconsider this whole trip. I'm just concerned about your safety," Toadsworth begged.

"I'll be with my friends the whole time! Quit treating me like a little child," Peach said in annoyance.

"I just don't see what's wrong with your annual Halloween costume party?"

"I'm so bored with costume parties. This year, I want to do something exciting and scary for Halloween."

"Hey Peach! We're all set to go!" Daisy yelled out of the van window.

"I have to go. Stop worrying! Go see a move or something," Peach said as she hopped into the van.

"I'll take good care of her!" Mario said.

"I trust that you will," Toadsworth said as Mario pulled out the driveway.

Toadsworth sighed as he walked back inside the castle.

Suddenly, Bowser and Bowser Jr jumped out from behind a tree beside the castle. The two had been secretly spying on the Mario gang the whole time.

"Looks like Mama Peach and her loser friends are planning on a little slumber party in the Forest of Illusion," said Bowser Jr.

"And of course, I was not invited! Let's crash this stupid party," Bowser said in rage.

"But dad! What about Toadelly KedShrooms?"

"Who?"

"Toadelly KedShrooms. She's the witch in that urban legend that haunts the Forest of Illusion," Bowser Jr. said in fear.

"Ah Junior, that legend was created for tourism. There is no witch in that forest."

"But what about those kids that went missing a few years ago?"

"You'll be just fine! I promise that nothing bad will happen. When have I ever been wrong before?"

"Well there was that one time…"

"Not important. Now let's go! If it's a scary camping trip that Mario wants then it's a scary camping trip that he will get," Bowser laughed.

EOC.

**A/N: Sorry, not much action for this chapter. I'll try to get the next one uploaded before Halloween.**


	2. Enter at Your Own Risk

"Are we there yet?" asked Toad.

"Not yet," answered Luigi.

"How much longer?"

"Just a few more miles," said Mario as he looked down at his gas meter.

"Ugh! We've been driving for four hours now," whined Toadette.

"Well, we would have been there by now if we didn't have to keep making bathroom stops!" snapped Dixie.

"I can't help it. Chuckola Cola goes right through me!"

"Then why the hell do you keep drinking it?" asked Diddy.

"Long car rides make me thirsty. Oh, that reminds me! Mario, I have to go to the bathroom."

Everyone groaned.

"Toadette, we just stopped 30 minutes ago," Daisy facepalmed herself.

"Sorry, I got to go again."

Everyone wanted to strangle Toadette at this point.

"For crying out loud! We'll never get there, thanks to tiny bladder over there," complained Wario.

"Actually, a pit stop might not be such a bad idea. The gas tank is almost on empty. Besides, it might do everyone some good to get out and stretch," Mario said as he pulled into the nearest gas station.

As soon as the van stopped, Toadette made a beeline for the bathroom. Everyone else went inside the gas station's mini mart.

Wario, DK, Diddy, and Yoshi were browsing through the junk food section. Luigi, Waluigi, Birdo, Dixie, Daisy, and Peach were checking out the magazines. Only, Peach couldn't help but notice the way the cashier was staring at all of them.

"That cashier is giving me the creeps," Peach whispered to Daisy.

The cashier was a koopa in a tattered blue uniform. He must have been in his late forties, but the scars on his face made him appear a lot older. He just stood there staring wide eyed at the others. He had dark, purple bags under his eyes. It looked as if he had not slept in weeks.

"Ugh! Creeper much," Daisy whispered back to the Peach.

Mario and Toadette soon came inside the mini mart. Mario handed the cashier a bag of coins for the gas.

The cashier stood like a statue just staring at Mario.

"Is there something wrong? I have credit cards too."

"Where are you kids headed?" the cashier asked in a raspy voice.

"To the Forest of Illusion," Mario replied.

"Yeah, we are gonna look for the forest witch," Dixie added.

"STAY OUT OF THAT FOREST!" the cashier screamed.

Everyone nearly jumped out of their skin. Luigi accidently knocked over the magazine stand, Waluigi fell backwards, Yoshi threw his skittles up in the air, Dixie jumped into Diddy's arms, Wario dropped his slushie, and Mario stepped a few feet back from the register.

"Why?" Daisy asked as she could feel her heart ricocheting against her chest from the cashier's sudden outburst.

"Toadelly KedShrooms is real. I've seen her with my own two eyes," the cashier emphasized by pointing to his bloodshot eyes.

"Sure and I bet she rode in on a broomstick too," Birdo said as she rolled her eyes.

"About 20 years ago, I was driving home late one night. My car broke down alongside the Forest of Illusion. It was too dark to see anything but I still tried my best to inspect the radiator. I kept having this strange feeling, like someone was watching me. Every time I turned my back I would hear this sound. I swear it sounded like a little girl crying. I tried to call out to the noise but it would stop. Needless to say, I was starting to get very creeped out. It was too dark and much too far to walk into town. So, I decided to just spend the night inside my car. I must have dozed off for a couple of hours, but I woke up to the sound of a high pitched scream. I looked up and there she was just staring at me through the windshield. She was hovering over my car hood with her boney fingers pressed against my windshield. It was the most horrific sight that I have ever seen! She had a frail body like a sickly old, wrinkled corpse wrapped in a long, black cloak. Her eyes were like two solid white orbs! She just stared at me with those sadistic, hallow, pupil-less eyes. But, the one thing that still haunts me to this very day is that sinister smile plastered on her face. It was the smile of pure evil. I knew I had to make a run for it. I remember bursting open that car door and running down the street. I could hear her maniacal laugh echoing behind me, but I kept on running like my very life depended on it and didn't look back. I didn't stop running until I was safely in the next town."

Luigi was biting his nails out of nervous habit and even began to shake uncontrollably.

"Nice story there, Shakespeare," Wario said sarcastically.

"It's true! I tried to tell the police but they didn't believe me. Nobody believes me. They all think I'm some crazy lunatic!" the cashier shouted.

"I wonder where they would get that idea from," Waluigi chuckled.

"That's what those three kids said about 13 years ago. The ones that went inside that forest and never returned. I tried to warn them…"the cashier trailed off.

"Um, are you sure you weren't just having some sort of nightmare?" Mario asked.

"I KNOW WHAT I BLOODY SAW AND I SAW THE FOREST WITCH!" the cashier screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Just a thought," Mario replied meekly.

"Be warned! Anyone that goes into that forest at night never EVER comes out," the cashier said as he pointed his right index finger at the Mario gang.

Every one was getting creeped out at this point and rushed out of the mini mart.

"SHE'LL HUNT YOU ALL DOWN! YOU'LL NEVER ESCAPE!"

"Keep the change," Mario gestured to the bag of coins as he ran outside to join his friends.

"Man, what a real whack job!" DK said.

"I don't know guys…maybe we should just leave," Luigi suggested.

"Awww is wittle Weegie scared?" Waluigi snickered.

"Shut up Waluigi!" Daisy threatened as she kicked him in the shins.

Waluigi howled out in pain as he slumped to the ground.

"Don't listen to that guy. He's probably paid to say all that stuff to just scare the tourists," Birdo said.

"Yeah, besides he wasn't even inside the forest. I thought the forest witch could only haunt you inside the forest," Toad reasoned.

"That's not any better!" Luigi whined.

"C'mon bro! Don't let that guy ruin our Halloween night," Mario said.

"Yeah Luigi, it will be fun," Daisy said as she looked into his eyes.

"Oh ok," Luigi blushed.

Everyone then proceeded to get inside Mario's van. Mario pulled off into the next exit that would lead them into the Forest of Illusion.

After a few miles down the road, the gang came upon a large green billboard sign in white letters that read: Forest of Illusion, next right. Everyone except Luigi cheered in delight. Mario pulled onto the narrow road.

Everyone was in awe of the giant oak trees that stretched on for miles and miles. It looked like the forest would go on forever. While everyone was complimenting the forest's beauty, Luigi could not help but think that he should have listened to his gut feeling.

"You alright Weege?" Mario asked as he briefly glanced over to his younger brother.

"Um, yeah, the forest is just too beautiful for words," Luigi lied. He knew his brother knew better.

Mario soon found a spot at the end of the road to park his van. Everyone grabbed their bags and made their way out of the van.

"Does everyone have everything?" Mario asked as he double checked the van.

"I think, we're all good here," Toad confirmed.

"Check this out!" Yoshi shouted.

Everyone turned to see what the green dinosaur had discovered.

It was a small wooden sign written in red bold letters read: ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK.

"How fitting," Birdo deadpanned.

"Yoshi, take me and Diddy's picture beside it, I want to post it on Facebook," Dixie said as she pulled Diddy beside her.

"I want a picture with me and Luigi!" Daisy said.

Yoshi snapped a few pictures.

"C'mon guys! We want to make tracks before sunset," Mario said as he led the group deep into the forest.

The gang hiked for several miles into the forest. Despite its eerie legend, the forest was quite peaceful during the daytime. Huge oak trees stretched on for miles with luscious green plant life surrounding them. The cheerful chirping of birds could even be heard all through out the forest.

"I wish we could spend a week out here," Toadette sighed dreamily.

"Yeah, it's nice to get away from all the hustle and bustle of Mushroom City," Toad agreed.

"Luigi, what are you doing down there?" DK called from atop a nearby oak tree.

Everyone turned to see that Luigi was sticking a piece of red duct tape to each tree that he passed by.

"I'm marking our trail. The Forest of Illusion is known for its confusing mazes. We don't want to get lost," Luigi said simply as he stuck another piece of tape to a tree.

"Whatever floats your boat, man," Diddy said as him and Dixie swung on a vine overhead to another tree.

Luigi walked over to another tree when he heard something shuffling in a bush adjacent to the tree.

"H-Hello?" Luigi said cautiously.

The shuffling got louder.

Yoshi lagged behind to snap pictures of the different plants he came in contact with.

"Hurry up Yoshi! We don't want the others to get too far ahead of us," Birdo called out.

"Ok, just one more shot," Yoshi said as he was angling his camera for the image to fit the screen.

He was about to take the picture when he saw a dark figure through his lenses dash behind a tree in the background.

"What the?" Yoshi whispered to himself as he pulled back from his camera.

He started to walk in the direction of the thing he saw but was stopped by Birdo.

"Yoshi? What's wrong?" Birdo asked as she put her hand on Yoshi's shoulder.

"I thought I saw something over there," Yoshi said as he pointed in the direction to his left.

Birdo stared off in the direction for a minute.

"I don't see anything. It was probably just an animal," Birdo said casually

"It didn't look like an animal. It looked more like…"

"Toadelly KedShrooms," Birdo said sarcastically.

Yoshi was about to respond when a loud scream echoed through the forest.

"What the hell was that!?" Birdo yelled.

"It sounded like Luigi! C'mon!" Yoshi said as he grabbed Birdo's hand and ran towards the direction of the scream.

Yoshi and Birdo arrived to find Luigi curled up in the fetal position with Waluigi and Wario laughing like morons. DK, Dixie, Diddy, Toad, Toadette, and Daisy had already arrived a few seconds prior.

"What the hell is going on over here?" Yoshi asked.

"Oh nothing, Waluigi thought it would be funny to jump out and scare Luigi," Wario said simply.

"I'm going to kick your ass!" Daisy yelled as she charged for Waluigi.

Now it was Waluigi's turn to scream as he ran to avoid the wrath of Daisy Sarasa.

"That scared the living daylights out of me! I thought something terrible had happened to Luigi," Toadette said trying to steady her heartbeat.

"Yeah, I thought it was the forest witch," Diddy said.

"I know! I was a little disappointed to find that it was Wario and Waluigi instead," Dixie said.

Birdo just rolled her eyes.

Suddenly, another scream was heard off in the distance.

"Now what?" snapped Birdo.

"MARIO! HELP ME!"

"Peach!" everyone yelled at once as they all rushed off in the direction of the Princess's cries.


	3. The Legend of Toadelly KedShrooms

**A/N: Meant to update this sooner but I had some personal issues that needed resolving. Everything's cool now though so on with the story! : ) Hope everyone had a Happy Holiday :)**

Birdo, Wario, Waluigi, Diddy, Dixie, DK, Yoshi, Toad, Toadette, Yoshi, Daisy and Luigi were racing through the forest following the sound of Peach's screams.

"GET IT OFF OF ME MARIO! GET IT OFF OF ME!" Peach's voice echoed throughout the forest.

"Oh my god! I hope she's alright!" Toadette exclaimed.

"What if it's Toadelly KedShrooms!" Toad said nervously as he tried his best to keep up the pace with the others.

"Toadelly only attacks at night, idiot," Wario grumbled.

"How much you wanna bet that it is only Bowser?" Birdo dead

"Yeah, I'm sure that it is only Bowser," Luigi said trying to calm his own nerves.

"Guess again," Dixie smirked as she watched the scene from atop a nearby tree.

The rest of the gang finally emerged from a thicket to witness Princess Peach running around in a circle screaming like a lunatic.

"Peach, hold still," Mario groaned as he grabbed hold of the Princess.

"Mario, what's going on?" Luigi asked.

Mario looked up to notice that the rest of the group was standing there staring back at him.

Yoshi was even snapping pictures of the frantic Princess.

"False alarm everyone! Peach just accidently walked into a spider web," Mario said as he helped steady Peach.

"Haha! What a ditz! That sounds like something Luigi would do," Waluigi insulted. Daisy slammed her heel down on Waluigi's toe making him yelp out in pain.

"Hey guys! Come check this out!" DK yelled.

The rest of the group walked over to a small clearing where DK stood.

In the middle of the clearing was a large, rotted oak tree. The once chestnut colored bark had decayed to a nasty blackish color. The mangled branches stretched over the clearing like menacing claws. No plants grew anywhere near the old tree. Only dried up grass and five small stones surrounded it.

"I bet this must be the tree where Toadelly KedShrooms was hung," Daisy said.

"Gee, what would give you that kind of idea," Birdo said sarcastically.

Yoshi moved in closer to take pictures while everyone else examined the tree in awe.

"C'mon Birdo, I mean how is it even possible for a decaying tree to still be able to stand tall like that?" Toadette asked.

"Yeah, this is just weird," Diddy said as he reached out to touch the tree.

"DON' T TOUCH IT!" Daisy snapped causing everyone to jump. "It might be cursed," she quickly added.

"Good grief," Birdo replied rolling her eyes.

"Pfft! There's nothing scary about some dead tree," Waluigi said arrogantly as he approached the tree. He put his finger on it. Nothing happened.

"Told you!" he sneered as he kicked over one of the stones that was near the tree.

"Waluigi, you asshole! Are you trying to put a curse on us!?" Daisy exclaimed as she moved the rock back to its original spot.

"Superstitous much?" Wario grumbled.

"You know…These five stones look like they are forming a pentagon shape around the tree," Yoshi said as he snapped more pictures.

"Holy crap! Yoshi's right. This can't be a coincidence," Mario said.

Everyone gasped.

"You gullible fools! This still does not prove anything," Birdo said with her arms folded.

"Nothing really impresses you, does it?" DK pointed out.

"All I'm saying is that just because you stumble upon a dead tree with some rocks that happen to look like a pentagon shape does not necessarily mean that it's an official sign of witchcraft. For all we know, some kids could have snuck in the forest to set it up like something happened here."

While everyone else argued with Birdo, Luigi could not take his eyes off the sinister tree. A cold chill ran down his spine. Even though the forest alone made him nervous, there was just something about this area that did not sit right with him.

"Hey guys…I think," Luigi stopped and looked over to his left. He could have sworn he saw something dash off in the distance. Maybe it was just his imagination getting the best of him?

"I think we should keep moving," He added still looking around in fear.

"Weegie's right! It's getting late, we still need to set up camp somewhere," Daisy said.

"I know! Let's camp under this old tree!" Dixie exclaimed.

"Oh no," Luigi gulped in fear.

"Actually, if this IS an authentic witch site then it would be disrespectful to camp on such territory," Daisy stated matter-of-factly.

Luigi gave a brief sigh of relief.

Birdo rolled her eyes.

"Well, I did see a meadow in passing just over there," DK pointed east of the tree's location.

"We better hurry, its already sunset," Peach said as she looked towards the sky.

Everyone except Luigi followed DK to the meadow. Luigi still stood staring at the decayed tree.

Mario just happened to look back to notice his brother was lagging behind.

"Weegie! You coming?" Mario called out.

Luigi snapped out of his brief trance.

"Yeah, right behind you," Luigi said as he quickly rushed over to the group not wanting to be left behind in such a creepy area.

The gang spent the remainder of the evening pitching the tents and setting the fire. It was already dark by the time all the prep work was finished. Soon everyone had gathered around the fire pit roasting hot dogs and chatting happily.

"Man, this was such a good idea," Toad said with a mouthful of hot dogs.

"Yeah, let's do this again next year," Peach said as she snuggled up next to Mario.

"Now it is time for the best part….ghost story," Daisy said all dramatically.

"Oh yeah!" Dixie cheered as she shoved a s'more in her mouth.

"I think that it is only appropriate to tell the legend of Toadelly KedShrooms…"Daisy trailed off.

Everyone got real quiet as Daisy stood up before the campfire.

"Nobody really knows the true story of Toadelly's life. Some say she was born from a family of witches, others say she's the very reincarnation of evil itself, but almost all stories suggest that Toadelly had some strange connection to this very forest. They say it was a cold, gloomy night when Toadelly first appeared. A local hunter found her in the forest on his way home. He said she had just appeared out of thin air. She looked to have been no older than eight at the time. Fearing for her safety, the hunter took her out of the forest and left her at a nearby orphanage in a little town called Black Hills. An elderly toadette named Toadna KedShrooms ran the local orphanage and gladly took the young girl in naming her Toadelly. Little did Ms. KedShrooms realize that this was going to be a huge mistake. Toadelly never spoke and kept mostly to herself. She was obsessed with drawing stickmen and she wrote in a language that nobody could understand. Some believed it to be black magic spells. Many of the townspeople and other children in the orphanage were quite creeped out by her. Everytime she was around, something bad would usually happen. One witness claimed to have seen Toadelly staring through the window of the butcher's shop, while the butcher was stabbing himself to death. An old fisherman was heard mumbling right before he died that Toadelly had tried to hold him under to drown. However, the biggest mystery was that the children in the village were going missing one by one. It was believed that the townspeople could hear the sound of screaming coming from the forest at night. One woman even claimed to have seen Toadelly lure her son into the forest. Ms. KedShrooms denied such accusations. She believed Toadelly to be a sweet, shy girl. That was until; someone reported screams coming from within the orphanage one night. The police arrived to find Ms. KedShrooms's body mutilated into five parts that were placed into a pentagon shape in the center of the living room. Toadelly had used Ms. KedShrooms's blood to draw stickmen and other mysterious symbols all over the living room wall. The police found Toadelly standing in the back of the room just staring at them with black, emotionless eyes.

"So, did they shoot her?" Waluigi asked.

"I don't think a child would be given the death penalty," Yoshi lamented.

"Uhh… Toadelly's clearly not a child…more like demon spawn," Diddy argued.

"Shhh! Let Daisy finish the story," Birdo said impatiently.

"Thank you," Daisy said clearing her throat. "Anyways, Yoshi's correct, being that Toadelly was a child, the policemen didn't think it was right to sentence her to death just yet. So, she was locked away in a cell until her eighteenth birthday, and then she would be trialed for her crimes. Many years later, she was finally trialed for witchcraft and sentenced to burn on a night just like tonight. As Toadelly was being burned alive, she did the most disturbing thing ever. She just laughed. It was the first sign of emotion anyone had ever seen from her. She laughed until her entire body was engulfed with the flames. The townspeople rejoiced. Toadelly KedShrooms was no more or was she?"

"You mean there's more?" Luigi gulped.

"Yes. Once the fire had subsided, the townspeople refused to have a witch buried in their town. So, Toadelly's burnt corpse was hung on an old oak tree deep within the Forest of Illusion. The next night, a fire had somehow ignited, burning Black Hills to the ground. Nothing the townspeople did seemed to extinguish the flames. Many were killed trying to save the town, while the survivors were forced to take refuge in the Forest of Illusion. Those that went into to the forest never came back out. The next morning, some neighboring townspeople could see endless clouds of thick, black smoke emitting out of Black Hills. They went to investigate only to regret their decision. The town of Black Hills had been completely destroyed from the fire. All that was left were the ashes scattered into the shapes of stickmen. The most disturbing sight of all was the Black Hills' resident's bodies were all hung on the trees right outside of the Forest of Illusion. Some of the bodies looked to have even been burnt to a crisp."

Daisy paused to build suspense. Everyone was on the edge of their seats. All except poor Luigi, who was still shaking uncontrollably.

"Nobody could explain the unfortunate mystery that had befallen upon Black Hills. The Forest of Illusion was believed to be cursed because soon after anyone that went inside at night were never seen or heard from again. In fact, just thirteen years ago, three film students wanted to make a documentary about Toadelly KedShrooms. They were last seen going into the forest. The real scary part? The police could not find any trace of the missing students. It was like they had been completely erased off the earth. Same goes for all of the other past victims that have spent the night in the forest. Some have claimed to have heard Toadelly's eerie laughter echo throughout the forest. But, they say that if you listen real hard you can hear the torturous cries of Toadelly's past victims…"

"AHHHH!"

Luigi screamed and jumped up about six feet off the ground. Everyone had screamed along with Luigi all accept one person, who was laughing at the sight before him.

"You should have seen the look on all your faces," Waluigi laughed.

"Damnit Waluigi! You nearly gave me a heart attack," Birdo said feeling her heart pound against her chest.

Eventually, DK, Diddy, Dixie, Mario, and Daisy had joined in on the laughter.

"Ok, I'll admit it. You got us good," Daisy said.

"But, the biggest loser of all was Luigi. I mean, I thought he was going to wet himself," Waluigi continued.

Luigi turned a bright crimson red while the others continued to laugh. Daisy then kicked Waluigi in the gut to shut him up.

"See bro? Isn't this fun?" Mario said in between laughs.

"Mario, you and I have a VERY different definition of fun," Luigi sighed. "But, I will admit that was kind of funny."

"Ill say and what a bogus story at that. I mean, how can a little girl almost drown an adult? And, how can a town magically catch on fire? Hmm? Birdo questioned.

"Yeah, and what's up with the stickman fetish?" Wario added in.

"And, if Toadelly did kill off everyone in the town, how is it that her legend can be passed down?" Birdo quickly added.

"How the hell should I know? There's a lot that don't make sense it is an urban legend after all," Daisy said.

"Oh man! We should have stopped by the old Black Hills site," Dixie said.

"I think we passed it on the way up. We can stop by tomorrow morning on the way home," Mario said.

"Speaking of I guess we should be winding down," Toad yawned.

Everyone agreed and began to make their way to their respected tents. Mario poured a bucket of water over the fire.

"Goodnight!" Luigi called out to everyone.

He was met with several different goodnights.

"Goodnight! Don't let Toadelly get ya," Daisy smirked before disappearing into her tent with Peach.

Luigi gulped and quickly dove into his tent with Mario.

…

Meanwhile…

"It's not my fault that the clown copter died ten miles back!" Bowser grumbled.

"Dad, I told you we should have stopped for gas! Now, thanks to that delay, Mario and his friends have had at least an hour head start."

"Don't worry son! We will find them."

"How can you be so sure? It's already night. I can barely see my claw in front of my face. Not to mention, this forest is one huge maze," Bowser Jr complained.

"Quit stressing Junior! Your old man brought a handy dandy map that will help us," Bowser said smartly as he showed Junior.

"Will it lead us to Mario?"

"HAHA! Can a Goomba swim?"

"Actually…"

"Nevermind. Now enough chatter! Grab that bag and let's get a move on. I want us to scare the life out of those losers before daylight," Bowser said as he proceeded down a pathway.

Junior pulled the bag with all his might. The bag was crammed full of random junk that Bowser thought would be vital against Mario. Unfortunately, it weighed twice as much as Junior.

"Dad, wait! This bag is heavy," Junior heaved as he struggled to keep up with his father. It was not too long before he could no longer see Bowser anymore.

A rustling noise could be heard in the bushes behind Junior.

"Dad!?" Junior panicked looking around. He gulped as he tried to pull the bag once more.

This time it sounded like footsteps were right behind him.

Junior stopped and turned around. Nothing was there. He began to get nervous.

"Dad? If that's you this really is not funny," Junior said trying to sound brave. The whole time all he could think about was the horrifying forest witch legend.

"There is no such thing as Toadelly KedShrooms. It is only some stupid legend," Junior said to himself as he pressed forward.

Junior could hear the footsteps behind him once more. Only this time it sounded like someone was running towards him.

Junior turned around once more to find that nothing was there. He then heard the sound of the footsteps coming at him from another direction.

"Screw this!" Junior shrieked as he bolted down a pathway, leaving his father's bag behind him.

Junior ran as fast as he could. He could hear the sound of the footsteps gaining behind him.

"DAD! HELP ME!" Junior screamed. He craned his neck to see if he could see anyone behind him this time. In doing so, Junior didn't see the tree root in front of him. Before he knew it, Junior had face planted into to dirt.

He had managed to look back one last time and screamed bloody murder.

…

Waluigi bolted upright in his tent.

"Wah? Huh? What was that?" He said to himself looking around.

He could have sworn he heard someone screaming. He examined the camp. Everyone still seemed to be sound asleep and undisturbed in their tents. His attention turned to Wario, who was snoring and drooling like a big slob on the other side of the tent.

"That's so weird…I thought I heard," he said as he began to shudder. "No, get a grip Wally! There's nothing out there and besides you are not some cowardly dork like Luigi," he smirked.

Waluigi turned his attention to the Mario Brothers tent. A wicked smile formed across his face. He began to ease his way out of the tent careful not to wake Wario.

"Where you going?" A gruff voice asked.

Waluigi turned back to see his brother staring back at him.

"Bathroom break. Go back to bed," He said as he made his way out of the tent.

Wario shrugged and fell back asleep.

It was a very quiet night in the forest. The only noise that could be heard was the sound of crickets chirping in the background. Waluigi emerged out the tent and began to tip toe closer to the Mario Brothers tent. He stood at the very back of it. He could see Luigi sleeping very peacefully.

"Hehehe" Waluigi chuckled evilly. Just as he was about to jump the tent, he felt something grab a hold of his torso and mouth.

It felt like the cold, clammy hands of a corpse. Waluigi tried to pull away but was unable to break free of the tight grasp on him. He tried his hardest to scream next, but his voice was muffled by the hand that covered his mouth.

Waluigi was pulled further and further away from his camp and into the darkness.

EOC.

**Now the real fun starts :) Sorry for all the long winded paragraphs in this chapter. I tried to break them up. For those that follow my other fic, Dark Bones Walking, I plan on updating it later on this week.**


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